Last Request
by RadiantBeam
Summary: “Bloom… just let a witch die with her pride intact, okay?” [Icy x Bloom][Oneshot character death]


**Disclaimer: **I do not own Winx Club. I just own the story idea, which is just a one-shot.

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**Last Request**

Looking back, all Bloom ever fully recalled of the moment was the heat that had roared through her body, then surged out, leaving her exhausted and panting for breath on her knees as sweat dripped from her face and neck. Her friends were gone, all battling their own enemies in the small war that had erupted, aided once more by Icy and her companions.

Wait a minute… Icy…

_Icy!_

A low groan seemed to remind her of what had happened, and she rocked back on her heels with a jolt; the pale-haired witch lay only a few feet away from her longtime nemesis. It was her groan that Bloom had heard; she shifted her body and winced, laughing softly. "Jeez, pixie… you still… pack a punch…"

It was then that Bloom saw the puddle of blood forming beneath Icy's body.

"_ICY!"_

She didn't know what compelled her to stumble to the witch's side, weakened herself and unable to stand without shaking, but somehow she made it from where she'd fallen to kneeling over the bleeding girl. "Icy," she repeated raggedly, lifting a trembling hand. "Oh, God, _Icy_…"

"Don't… act so surprised… you… did it…"

The wound was deep, slashing along Icy's hip and curving up sharply to her chest. The amount of blood she was losing told Bloom that some vital organ had been struck, and by the way she lay the red-haired princess could also guess that not only had bones been broken, but she had lost complete feeling from the waist down.

"I… _I _did this…?"

"Dragon… Flame… didn't expect it to be so strong… like this… guess it's not all flames after all…"

Trembling, pale-faced, Bloom gently rested her hand against the wound, jerking it away when Icy hissed in pain and recoiled; with a choked gasp, she saw her hand was wet and slick with fresh blood. "Just hold on," she choked out, and she lowered both hands now, trying to ignore the blood. "I can help you, it's all right…"

She froze as Icy's hand shot out, her fingers closing tightly around her wrists. The witch's eyes had narrowed to mere slits. "Don't," she rasped, pushing Bloom's hands away and closing her eyes. "Just… don't."

"But… Icy, if I don't…"

"Bloom… just let a witch die with her pride intact… okay?"

Inhaling weakly, beginning to sniffle, Bloom slowly lowered her hands, bowing her head. Icy opened one eye, scowling as tears began to fall. "Why… are you crying…? You should… be happy…"

"Stupid…" Bloom's hands curled into fists as her tears continued falling. "I wanted to defeat you, sure, but… I never wanted to _kill _you!"

For a long moment Icy gazed up at her; finally, she chuckled raggedly and closed her eye. "Pixie," she murmured, exhaling heavily, "you really are too kind for your own good. I'm the last person you should cry over."

At that moment the witch coughed heavily, and blood speckled the ground near her mouth; whimpering softly Bloom inched closer, bowing her head. "You _can't _die," she whispered, as though trying to convince herself of this. "You're… you're too stubborn, too mean to die…"

"Stupid…"

For a long moment they stayed that way, the witch fallen and the fairy kneeling over her, crying. Finally, Bloom wiped at her tears and bit her lip. "Hey, Icy."

"Yeah…?" The witch's voice had softened considerably.

"Where I come from… we have something called a last request." Bloom swallowed. "When a person's dying, they can make one request before they die… so you can give me a last request if you want… because I did this to you…"

Slowly, Icy opened her eyes, shifting slightly to look up at Bloom. Nervously, Bloom met her gaze, and though her eyes had clouded over with pain they were still alert. There was silence, and then the witch spoke. "I do… have one request…" She coughed again and wiped at her mouth, ignoring the blood that streaked the back of her hand. "Even for me, it's getting a little cold…"

Bloom understood. Wordlessly she shifted closer and gently wrapped her arms around the witch, gently lifting her so she was cradled in her arms, in her lap. Blood spilled onto the ground and soaked into her own clothes, but Bloom ignored it as she held Icy, one arm around her back and the other around her neck so the witch's head rested on her shoulder. After a moment Icy shifted and turned slightly, so her head rested against Bloom's chest and she could hear the fairy's heartbeat.

She chuckled, closing her eyes and Bloom timidly ran her fingers through her pale hair. "You know, you're pretty warm… is that normal for you…?"

"We all have body heat," Bloom murmured, slightly amused as she rested her cheek against the fading witch's hair. "But I guess the Dragon Flame makes my body a little warmer than normal."

"Interesting…" Icy smiled tiredly. "Whatever the reason… it feels… nice…"

She sighed softly, and her body went still.

There were some things Bloom didn't know right away. She sometimes didn't know, for example, that Musa had been crushing on Tecna for awhile now. She hadn't known right away that her mother was pregnant and expecting a new baby.

And yet, somehow, she knew the exact moment that Icy passed away from the barren world of a cruel death and scarlet blood, passed away and moved on to a place that was probably warmer and kinder than anything she'd known in life.

Still, she felt compelled to call to her. "Hey… Icy?" Her arms tightened slightly around the witch's limp form. "Icy…?"

At that moment, more than anything, she wanted Icy to open her eyes, to smirk at her and call her pixie like she always did. But Icy was silent, and still, and she was smiling.

Something inside Bloom shattered into a thousand pieces. She hugged the witch tighter and sobbed into her hair, her body shaking mercilessly as sobs ripped through her.

"_ICY!!!"_

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That was how they found her, Stella later told her, weeping into Icy's hair and holding on to her body as though her life depended on it. Bloom never remembered this, just nodded dully.

Icy was buried a few days later, on a cloudy, windy day; and for the first time she noticed how close Musa stood to Tecna, and how Tecna awkwardly had an arm along the other girl's shoulders

She didn't know why seeing this made her hurt so much, and looked away.

Later on, she crouched before the tombstone that marked Icy's final resting place, ignoring the way the wind whipped her hair into her eyes and made them sting.

"_Just let a witch die with her pride intact… okay?"_

"Stupid," Bloom whispered, wiping at her eyes again. "Pride isn't worth much when you're dead."

A single tear escaped and streaked her cheek, falling to the ground. She laughed bitterly, closing her eyes and bowing her head.

"And _I'm _stupid," she murmured. "I didn't know you loved me until you asked for your last request."

**The End**

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"Time of Dying" by Three Days Grace inspired this. Don't know how or why.

I haven't watched Winx Club in awhile, so please forgive any OOCness. I've always had a soft spot for Icy/Bloom, and was surprised to not see many fics of them, so...

Read and review, please!


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